Loeffler Responds to Canelo Hair Test

A sample of Canelo Alvarez’s hair given to the Nevada State Athletic Commission back in March has come back negative for clenbuterol.

Alvarez failed two drug tests, testing positive for clenbuterol in samples taken during February, all but canceling (or at least postponing) the planned rematch with unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, which had been scheduled for May 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

As reported by Bad Left Hook, while some feel this proves Alvarez’s innocence, others say research shows a hair sample isn’t the most accurate indicator of such a measure.

During a recent podcast appearance, Tom Loeffler — promoter to Golovkin — says he has no idea what the Alvarez hair test result means.

“It needs to be that if someone tests positive, it needs to be a harsh punishment, so that there is a deterrent,” Loeffler said. “To anyone trying to sneak under the radar — there’s a lot of claims, you know, fighters go onto a certain cycle, and then they only fight once or twice a year, because that way they know when they’re gonna be tested, and it won’t show up.

“Frankly, we insisted on earlier testing for this rematch than there was in the first fight, and Gennady has said that if the fight happens in the future, he would test starting after this May 5 fight. There’s nothing to hide on the GGG side, we just want there to be a level playing field. Whether it’s weigh-ins whether it’s drug testing, it should be especially in the sport of boxing since it’s so dangerous, there should be a level playing field.”

Loeffler says he’s unsure of Alvarez’s innocence — Alvarez blamed the original tests that came back positive for the weight loss accelerant on tainted meat he had eaten. Loeffler added that this case reminds of Lance Armstrong’s PED usage case.

“The Nevada commission did their investigation. So I’m not privy to what were the results of their investigation,” he said. “I’m going to reserve judgment on that, I don’t have access to all the investigation. We just wanted to put on a great show, it was a great promotion working with Golden Boy the first time around, we set some records on the financial side, and it was a tremendous show.

“And if there’s a way to do that again for a rematch, we’d like to do that again. That’s GGG’s highest priority.”